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Staying Safe On Super Bowl Sunday: What You Should Know About DUIs & DWAIs

My criminal defense firm experiences an uptick in clients
this time of year, many of whom are looking for help with DWAI charges (Driving
While Ability Impaired) or DUI charges (Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol
or Drugs) that they incurred during the holiday season.

It’s a crazy time of year—I get it. Outside of stress and other types of drama (see my earlier post here about drama),
nothing defines the holiday season quite like parties. Take your pick: Thanksgiving parties, office
parties, Hanukkah parties, Christmas parties, light parades, winter festivals,
New Year’s Eve parties, pre-parties, after parties. You can’t throw a stone between mid-November
and early January without hitting someone who is actively partying.

Reflecting on the last few months as I work through my current
DUI/DWAI caseload, there’s a lot that people don’t know about alcohol- and
drug-related driving offenses. Before
you head out on Super Bowl weekend for the NEXT round of parties, here are a
few tips from a veteran Colorado DUI attorney.

Exceeding the Blood
Alcohol Limit Is Easier than Tapping a Keg

Most of my DUI/DWAI clients didn’t have all that much to
drink when they were pulled over and charged. It surprises people how strict Colorado’s laws
are when it comes to defining the parameters of intoxication or impairment. What I’m trying to say is that we’re not
always talking about the “Terri drank the whole bottle of Pinot before turning
to the Syrah” situation.

Blood alcohol content (BAC) levels depend on a number of
factors:

·weight

·body composition

·stomach contents

·drink sizes

·liquor or beer strength (ABV)

·medications

·timeframe

A good rule of thumb to remember about BAC: there is no good
rule of thumb because everyone is different in terms of how they process
alcohol. You just need to know that a single
drink can land you a DUI/DWAI charge, and a single DUI/DWAI charge can land you
in serious trouble. The ad campaign from
a few years ago about how one such case can cost you $10K may be slightly
overstating it, but wouldn’t it be nice if you didn’t have to find out?!

It’s Not Always Your
Driving that Gets You Pulled Over

Most people would guess that they can competently and safety
drive after a single drink. I can’t make
any blanket statements as to whether this is true or not. I can
point out from experience with Colorado DUI/DWAI clients that it doesn’t really
matter whether this is true or not.

Many of my clients were pulled over due to circumstances
that had nothing to do with their driving.
Perhaps the neighbor’s cat ran in front of the car, causing a collision
with a parked Airstream. Maybe an
uncoordinated teenager fell off his skateboard in the middle of the
intersection, prompting an immediate swerve into a parking meter. You have a tail light that’s on the fritz, or
you forgot to signal. Or even more likely,
especially later at night: someone with a higher BAC than you caused a traffic
accident. These things happen all the
time, and the “I was fine to drive” defense doesn’t exist.

Smoking Pot Instead
of Drinking Is Not a Solid Alternative If You’re Driving

It is true that marijuana impairment is harder to detect
from a testing standpoint than alcohol intoxication. But cops get tons of training on drugged driving—sometimes
even more training for drug cases than those involving alcohol. Cops also have “cop experts” called Drug
Recognition Experts (or DREs), who can oftentimes accurately guess what type of
drug you’re on just by how you’re acting.
And—in a state with legal MJ like Colorado—it’s not even much of a
guessing game for your average patrol cop to spot marijuana use.

Unlike alcohol, the measureable impairments of marijuana use
are not as obvious, though. And while
blood tests can detect THC, it is difficult to make conclusive ties between the
presence of THC and the driver’s performance-impaired behavior. Read: it’s possible with enough practice to
get really good at acting sober even when high.
But, your blood doesn’t lie. The
legal driving limit for marijuana in Colorado is set so that you can be found
guilty of driving high even if you do not think you are experiencing the
effects of THC at the time. How is this
possible? Simple, THC stays in blood a
lot longer than booze does, and habitual users have longer-lasting positive blood
results.

Opting to smoke (or ingest) weed and drive after the game is
not a safe or smart alternative to drinking and driving. The better option, of course,
is not to drive at all. And whatever you
do, don’t mix drugs and alcohol of any sort before driving. Your defense will easily surpass the $10K
mark once you start having to hire experts to interpret your blood results.

If you ignore my advice and still drive … well … I’m still here for you.

Look—the reality is that good people make mistakes and get behind
the wheel when they shouldn’t. If you’ve
been pulled over for a DUI/DWAI and nobody was hurt, consider yourself
lucky. Also consider yourself in need of
an experienced defense attorney! While
very common, these offenses have serious consequences in terms of fees and
potential loss of driving privileges.
I’ve spent years as a DUI/DWAI defense attorney, and before opening my
Fort Collins law firm I worked on the other side as a District Attorney
prosecuting these cases down in the Denver metro area. I understand the system in a way that most average
DUI/DWAI attorneys do not.

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